March 1, 2005
By TOM CANAVAN
AP Sports Writer
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (AP) – Freshman Charel Allen had 14 points and nine rebounds and No. 10 Notre Dame overcame a school record-tying low point total for a road game in posting a 41-35 victory over Seton Hall on Tuesday night.
Jacqueline Batteast added 11 points as the Irish (25-4, 13-3 BIG EAST) overcame 22 percent shooting (13-of-59) from the field to win for the 12th time in 13 games.
The 41 points tied the school record set in a 66-41 loss at Marquette in 1978, the first year of women’s basketball at Notre Dame. The record low for a game at home was set last year, when the Irish beat Villanova 38-36.
Ashley Bush had 19 points and 11 rebounds for Seton Hall in her final home game. Asia Carroll hit two late 3-pointers for the Pirates (14-13, 6-10), with the last getting them within 36-31 with 1:11 to go.
Allen then iced the game with four late free throws.
Down 17-15 at the half, Notre Dame took the lead for good with a 7-0 spurt that came during a span where the officials changed a 3-pointer by Bush into a two-point basket.
The switch cut the lead to 19-18 and Allen hit two free throws to put the Irish ahead 20-19. Batteast then scored the next five points, hitting one of two free throws, a shot in the lane and a layup for a 25-19 lead with 14:16 to play.
Seton Hall twice cut the lead to four points, but Batteast hit a jumper to ignite a seven-point spurt that Megan Duffy capped with her only basket of the game.
Bush almost single-handedly gave Seton Hall a 17-15 halftime lead. She scored 11 points and frustrated Batteast with her tough defense, limiting the conference’s second-leading scorer to two points on 1-of-5 shooting
Notre Dame did not score in the final 7:31, and it had only two points in the final 10:09 in matching its season-low for a half.
— ND —
POST GAME NOTES: With the victory, Notre Dame finishes in a tie with Connecticut for second place in the BIG EAST Conference standings, marking the ninth time in their 10-year league affiliation that the Irish have placed either first or second in the BIG EAST … Notre Dame also claims the No. 2 seed for the BIG EAST Championship, earning a bye into the quarterfinal round, where it will play Sunday at 6 p.m. (ET) on College Sports Television (DirecTV Channel 610) against the winner of the first-round game between No. 7 seed West Virginia and 10th-seeded Pittsburgh … the Irish registered their 25th victory of the year, giving Notre Dame the fifth 25-win season in school history (all in the past nine years) … Notre Dame also collects 25 regular-season wins for only the third time in the program’s 28-year history (also: 25-5 in 1996-97, 26-1 in 2000-01) … the Irish are 14-3 all-time against Seton Hall, including a 6-2 record at Walsh Gym … Notre Dame has held the Pirates to less than 50 points eight times in the 17-game series, including a 34.0 ppg. average in both games this season … the Irish are 11-2 on the road this season, which matches their third-highest win total ever in true road contests (13 wins in 1996-97, 12 wins in 1998-99, 11 on three other occasions — most recently in 2000-01) … in their 13 road games to date, the Irish have allowed an average of just 51.8 ppg. and only one opponent has managed to score 60 points (Syracuse had 61 on Jan. 19, thanks to a last-second bucket) … Notre Dame was held to a school-record low .220 field goal percentage at Seton Hall, breaking the old mark of .230 (14-for-61) set on Jan. 12, 1980 in a 77-43 loss to Northeast Missouri State at the Huskie Invitational in DeKalb, Ill. … the Irish also tied two other school records vs. Seton Hall — fewest points allowed in a BIG EAST road game (also: 35 by Syracuse on Jan. 21, 2004) and fewest points scored in a road game (also: 41 at Marquette on Feb. 3, 1978) … Notre Dame missed tying the school records for fewest points in a win and fewest points by both teams (both marks were set in a 38-36 Irish win over Villanova on Jan. 24, 2004) … the Irish are 17-0 this year when their bench outscores the opposition’s reserves (14-8 vs. Seton Hall) … Notre Dame has held its last nine opponents to less than 60 points, allowing an average of only 52.9 ppg. in that span … with six steals vs. Seton Hall, junior guard Megan Duffy surged into a tie with Mary Gavin for seventh place on the Irish single-season thefts list with 80 (Gavin also had 80 steals in 1986-87) … senior center Teresa Borton had two blocks, giving her 50 this year and moving her into a tie with current teammate Jacqueline Batteast for eighth place on the Notre Dame single-season blocks chart (Batteast had 50 in 2002-03) … Borton also broke a deadlock with Katryna Gaither for fourth on the Irish all-time blocks list with 143 rejections (Gaither had 141 from 1993-97) … with 11 points at Seton Hall, Batteast cracked the 500-point barrier this season (now at 505), making her the fourth player in school history with multiple 500-point seasons (Beth Morgan, Katryna Gaither and Ruth Riley are the others).